


The Doctor's Scotsmen

by CharacteristicallyMinor



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Ancestors, Family, Gen, Scotland, Scottish Character, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 22:45:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharacteristicallyMinor/pseuds/CharacteristicallyMinor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>River and Amy go back in time to meet an ancestor of theirs and return something he's lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Doctor's Scotsmen

River burst through the door of her parents' house one Thursday. It was an average twenty-first century day. River could have landed directly in her parents' house, of course, but it was considered impolite to do so. Since it was the middle of the day, Rory was at work at the hospital. It was a shame that Rory wasn't home, as River would have liked to see him, but Amy was the one River urgently needed to see. 

"Mother?" she called. 

"River!" Amy called from the kitchen. "I'm in here!"

River walked to the kitchen and said, "Mother! Good to see you." She then started pressing buttons on her vortex manipulator.

"Wait, you can't leave yet!" Amy said. "You've barely just got here."

"I'm not leaving. I'm doing a scan of you. I'm checking to see whether you're related to someone from the 18th century," River said.

"Well? Am I?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. I'll have to get a scan of him next," River said.

"So? Who is he?" Amy asked.

"Well, the TARDIS tends to like coincidences. It occurred to me that it would be make sense that she picked your backyard to crash land in when the Doctor was regenerating instead of, say, some girl in London, because she recognized some of your genetic makeup. I wanted to check if we were related to a certain Scottish ex-companion of his. It would be extremely convenient if we were," River said.

"Just because we're Scottish doesn't mean that we're related, you know. Scotland isn't as small as the English tend to think it is! And why would it be convenient?" Amy asked.

"It does make a sort of sense that the TARDIS would chose you partly because of him, though. The TARDIS had been particularly interested in families during the Doctor's previous regeneration. She kept landing near Jackie Tyler, and the situation with Wilfred Mott and Donna wasn't just a coincidence. Anyways, if I'm related to Jamie, that would be extremely helpful to me. I need to know whether I'm related to him before I attempt anything, though; I could do more harm than good if I'm not related. I needed to check whether you were related to him, though, because I'm not quite human enough for the vortex manipulator to accurately test whether I'm related to him," River said. "So, fancy a trip to the 18th century?"

"Will you be able to return me home to this time? I don't want to end up missing a few years," Amy replied.

"Of course! I'm not the Doctor; I am fully capable of landing in the correct time," River said. "Of course, part of his problem is that he usually thinks it's fun to not know where he's going to land, and that affects his ability to land correctly when he does attempt to go to a specific place."

"I'll go with, but let me leave a note for Rory. Just in case," Amy said. 

She wrote a note: "Gone to 18th century Scotland with River. Looking for an ancestor. I'll be home soon. Amy"

Amy grabbed River's wrist when she was done, and River transported both of them out of the kitchen. They landed in the countryside.

"Jamie McCrimmon should be somewhere nearby. I checked, and this is after his children have already grown up and his wife has died. I wanted to be sure that I didn't do anything to cause us to not be born," River said.

After walking for a short time, the women met a man in a kilt who was going the other way. 

Before they reached the man, River told Amy, "You talk. We're looking for Jamie McCrimmon. We're looking for him because the Doctor, who's my friend, would like to know how he's been since they first met at the battle. You need to talk at first, though, because he'll be suspicious of any Englishmen at first, although I hope he'll accept me after my explanation."

"Excuse me. Do you know where I can find Jamie McCrimmon?" Amy asked the man.

"Aye. That'd be me. And who would ye be?" Jamie asked.

"I'm Amy Pond."

"And I'm River Song."

"A redcoat! Whit are ye doing here?" Jamie asked, adopting a more hostile stance.

"My mother is Scottish, and my father is English. I'm in Scotland because I want to know more about my mother's heritage. My parents know a man called the Doctor, and he said that he had met a man named Jamie McCrimmon around here some years ago. He thought highly of you, and I wanted to meet you," River said.

"Aye, I ken the Doctor. He helped us when we were fighting the redcoats some years ago. He's a good man. But what's a Scottish woman doing with some Englishman?" Jamie asked.

"I believe that my mother was brought to England against her will at a young age. She met my father while she was there, and they fell in love. She's happy enough now, but she misses her home country still. She still has her Scottish accent, even," River said.

"I believe ye. So, how's the Doctor been?" Jamie asked.

"He's well. He's married to a woman named Melody. It's not his first marriage, of course. And Doctor's granddaughter's married to a man named David. You never met Susan," River said conversationally.

"I'm sorry, Jamie. I just remembered that I needed to talk to River about something. Would you excuse us? It was nice to meet you," Amy said.

"Nice tae meit ye," Jamie said.

Amy and River walked away quickly. Amy had a hand on River's arm, and she was practically dragging her away.

"Thanks for the escape, Mother. I was getting worried that I'd give something away. Not that I was lying; everything I said was true. It's easier that way. Sorry for not sticking to the plan," River said. She started fiddling with her vortex manipulator.

"Everything was true?" Amy asked.

"Yes, Mother. Well, individually everything was true. I may have implied some things by the way I arranged the truth. And here's the two scans compared... yes, we're related!" River said. "I need to catch up with him."

"Wait right here, young lady! Have you been holding out on me? The Doctor has a granddaughter?" Amy asked.

"Yes, of course. Well, he had one, at least. He hasn't seen her for centuries. I think he's afraid that she got erased in the Time War. He's afraid to find out, and I currently respect him enough to not find out myself. But no, you're not a great-grandmother; you're just a great-grandmother-in-law," River said.

"He has children and grandchildren? Why did I not know about this? Who's the mother?" Amy asked.

"I'm not the first person he's been with. He's over a thousand years old! I'm nowhere near the first, and I won't be the last. He definitely had children from his first marriage, which was to a Time Lady. They all died in the Time War, though. He doesn't like to talk about it," River said.

"Of course I knew he'd been with others before. I just never really thought about it," Amy asked.

"Anyways, I really need to catch up with Jamie. I have memories to return to him," River said.

"Why do you have his memories? Do you have to be related to him to give them back?" Amy asked.

"Yes. The Time Lords didn't want the Doctor to be able to return Jamie's and Zoe's memories after they took them away. It's almost impossible to prevent memories from being permanently removed, though. If a loophole isn't left, the removal can drive someone insane. So the Time Lords got into the habit of letting the memories be only accessed by a Time Lord who was related to the person whose memories they removed. It was thought to make the return of removed memories impossible, since they obviously used a different loophole for the alteration of Time Lord memories. But I fulfill the conditions for the return of Jamie's memories quite nicely," River explained. 

"That's too coincidental to make sense," Amy said.

"It's not, really. It isn't a coincidence that the Doctor crash landed in your backyard when you were young. While the Doctor was regenerating and the TARDIS was exploding, the TARDIS was looking for somewhere safe to land. Where better but at the home of a descendant of one of the Doctor's old companions? The TARDIS found you especially easily because you were in distress, and the TARDIS is attuned to that sort of thing. As for me being part Time Lord, it was bound to happen to one of the couples the Doctor brought on the TARDIS. He's lucky that Ian and Barbara, Ben and Polly, or any of the other couples he travelled with never managed to get pregnant while on the TARDIS. Although that reminds me, I need to check on Ian and Barbara's children," River said.

While Amy was thinking over that explanation, River started walking towards Jamie.

"Wait! I just remembered that I had something to give you. This is yours- the Doctor's rarely in Scotland. He wasn't able to give it back to you. That's the reason that I wanted to see you," River called to Jamie.

"Aye? What is it, then?" Jamie asked.

"Hold out your hand," River commanded.

Jamie did. River grabbed his hand. Jamie looked like he was about to say something, but then he passed out. River caught him and set him on the ground, still holding his hand. When Amy caught up to them, River's face was set in an expression of concentration, and her eyes were closed. Amy felt it best not to disturb them. When River finally opened her eyes, she looked tired.

"His memories should be back now," River said.

"Now what?" Amy asked.

"Now we wait for him to wake up. Then we can see what he wants to do. If he wants, I can take him to the Doctor. If he wants to stay here, we'll leave him here," Amy said.

"What if the Doctor doesn't want to see Jamie?" Amy asked.

"He does. I've spent enough time in his mind to know that he still misses Jamie along with everyone else that he's lost. I'll have to tell Jamie about regeneration, of course," River said.

After a few minutes, Jamie woke up.

"My memory's back. Thank ye for that. It was yer doing, aye?" Jamie said.

"Yes, I returned it," River said with a smile.

"So, where's the Doctor?" Jamie asked. "What's happened to him?"

"He's fine, but he's not with us. He wasn't able to return your memories; the Time Lords made sure of that. As it is, I was only able to return your memories; I'm not able to return Zoe's," River said.

"But she's alright, isn't she?" Jamie asked.

"Yes, she's fine," River replied.

"So, can ye take me to the Doctor? Or are ye just here to give me my memories back?" Jamie asked.

"I can take you to the Doctor if you wish. He'd be delighted to see you. But I must warn you, he'll be different. Did Ben and Polly tell you about regeneration? When the Doctor's close to dying, his body changes. He looks like a whole new person, and his personality's different. He's still the same person, though, and he still has all of his old memories," River said. 

"Aye, I think I remember them telling me about it. So the Doctor's regenerated again?" Jamie asked.

"He's regenerated many times since you last saw him, and hundreds of years have gone by- I'd say he's about seven hundred years older, but he tends to lie about his age a lot. I rather think he's lost count. He's different now. For one thing, he looks much younger. His body is in its twenties. He's also clumsier and taller. And his personality's changed, too. Do you still want to see him?" River asked.

"Of course I dae. He's still the same person," Jamie said fiercely. "I dinna care if he looks different."

"I agree with you. I'll take you to the Doctor. First, I have to take Amy back to her time. I've modified my vortex manipulator, but it still doesn't work well with more than two people using it. Here, Jamie; I'll leave my diary here so that you know I'll be coming back," River said, handing the diary to him. Amy grabbed her wrist, and they blinked out of existence. A second later, River returned.

"Well, Amy's back in her own time, now. I got her home in time for dinner, even. She's from the twenty-first century, like Zoe. Still, everything I told you about her is true," River said, taking her diary back from Jamie.

"Wait. I've been thinking- ye said that the Doctor was married," Jamie said.

"He is," River replied with a smile. "Don't worry. They weren't exclusive; she was fine with him having lovers or partners or whatnot. You won't see her much, either; in the part of his time line that I'm taking you to, she's already dead. He just saw her for the last time." 

"How did she die?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know. I suspect I'll learn the answer to that fairly soon. Does it bother you that he had a wife?" River asked.

"I'm glad that he's been with other people. I widnae want him to be lonely. Besides, I've been married myself," Jamie answered.

"I agree with you completely. So, are you ready to leave? Do you have anything you want to bring, or anyone you want to say goodbye to?" River asked.

"Nae. I'm ready to go," Jamie said.

"Grab my vortex manipulator, then," River said, indicating the thing on her wrist. 

Jamie did as River asked. They blinked out of existence and landed on a street somewhere.

"London, in the year 1892. The Doctor is somewhere nearby," River said. "Oh, of course." 

She walked across the street and walked into a building. She emerged holding a cane. She used the cane to hook something in the sky. It turned out to be a ladder. 

"What's the ladder for?" Jamie asked.

"I suspect that the Doctor parked the TARDIS somewhere in the sky, and he needed a way to get back down. Would you go first?" River asked.

Jamie went up the ladder and the staircase that came after it. River followed him. When they reached the top of the staircase, they could see the TARDIS.

"It looks different than it used to, but that is definitely the TARDIS," Jamie said. He knocked on the door.

The Doctor opened it after a minute, looking grumpy. When the Doctor saw Jamie, he looked shocked. After a moment, he grinned. "Jamie! Your memories are gone! What are you doing here?"

"Doctor? Is that ye?" Jamie asked. "Twa of yer friends gave me my memory back, and ane of them brought me here." He turned around, but River was gone. 

"Well, come inside!" the Doctor said. 

River had transported herself back to her home at the university. She was glad she had gotten that taken care of. She had been worried about the Doctor after their trip to the Singing Towers. The Doctor wouldn't have to be lonely anymore. Now, she could go on her expedition to the Library.

**Author's Note:**

> The stuff about the loophole in the memory alteration is totally made up. I'm fairly certain that's not how it works at all. 
> 
> Jamie isn't meant to be replacing Clara in this. The Doctor will still end up travelling with Clara; Jamie will just be joining them. Unless, of course, you dislike Clara and prefer to imagine that she'll never meet the Doctor because of this. That's also okay. 
> 
> Also, let me know if Jamie's Scottish accent sounds weird. I tried to make him sound properly Scottish, but I have no clue whether I succeeded.


End file.
